History of Hamirgarh · हमीरगढ़ का इतिहास

We separate what records show from what tradition holds. Corrections are welcome.

From Bakrol to Hamirgarh

Records show the town was once called Bakrol; a 10th-century inscription uses that name. In Samvat 1817 (1760 CE), in the time of Maharana Ari Singh of Udaipur, it was renamed Hamirgarh after his son Hamir Singh. Another tradition links the name to Rana Hamir of Mewar.

अभिलेख बताते हैं कि कस्बे का पुराना नाम बाकरोल था। संवत 1817 (सन् 1760) में महाराणा अरि सिंह के समय इसका नाम उनके पुत्र हमीर सिंह के नाम पर हमीरगढ़ रखा गया।

An estate of Mewar

Under Mewar, the Hamirgarh estate held 12 villages, among them Aujyada, Takhtpura, Kherabad, Bardod, Amli and Kabra.

Printers and dyers

Around 1820, Colonel James Tod counted about 800 houses here, home chiefly to makers of chintz and dupattas, and called Hamirgarh one of the most thriving places in Mewar. He also described a fine lake visited by wild duck. Block printing, bandhej and the textile mills carry that work on today.

Chamunda Mata on the takri

The temple of Chamunda Mata, worshipped as Mahishasur Mardini, stands on the hill above the town. Tradition holds that Rana Sanga had it built in 1527, before the battle of Khanwa.

Raj Mahal

The palace of Hamirgarh's chiefs stands at the foot of the fort hill, entered through a carved sandstone gate. The Charbhuja Nath Temple, with two stone elephants at the top of its steps, stands at the end of the palace's front wall, facing the gate.

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